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Monday, July 22, 2013

NXD-on, what's the story?

I was going to make another PTCGO giveaway contest today, but then changed my mind. After all, I haven't discussed the upcoming rotation at all in my blog yet!

If you didn't yet know, it’s official now and it has been for a while, but
due to my hectic life in the summer I am bit late to analyze the changes. The next format
will be Next Destinies-on! And what will that mean for the game and for the
upcoming format? That’s what I am here today to discuss. What is even more interesting
is the fact that they released the possible “alternative format” alongside the “modified”
format starting late 2014. What kind of impact that will have to the game? That
will be very interesting to see. If you haven’t yet seen the official
announcement, check it out here: http://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-news/op_2014_format_rotation-2013-07-16/

Anyways, today I’ll be discussing, which cards will be out of the game in the next
format and what it means for some decks. I’ll also take a look at the cards
that are more viable now that certain cards have been rotated out. I might have
missed the rotation of some cards, so feel free to comment if you notice
anything lacking in my analysis!

Remember that the rotation takes place AFTER Worlds, so Worlds’ will be still
played with the BW-on format.

Oh and one more thing. The Top Cut Invitational that I had last year priviledge to attend to is organized this year again. This time, The Top Cut needs your vote in order to decide the remaining contestant of the tournament! I voted for Sami Sekkoum, who is your vote? If you haven't yet voted, you can vote here: http://thetopcut.net/2013/07/20/vote-for-the-last-member-of-the-top-cut-invitational/ The tournament is just something very special and I encourage everyone to follow it!

Anyways, Let's get going.

What will be rotated outGothitelle (Emerging Powers)

If we are looking at the current metagame, the rotation
of Gothitelle must be THE biggest thing. Gothitelle is a tier1 deck that you
have to counter if you want to do well in the current format. We will see a lot
of Gothitelles and Gothitelle counters in the Worlds Championships of 2013, but
to be honest I believe that the rotation of Gothitelle is only a good thing. If
you build Gothitelle correctly in the current format, you will get almost every
time a T2 Gothitelle up. After that you can very quickly get the lock going
with Accelgor and your opponent can’t do anything, The deck is not fun and
there is no point of having a deck in the format, which you have to counter if
you don’t want to do well in a tournament.

The loss of Gothitelle may also open up new opportunities for decks that
concentrate even more on Items. I don’t know if it’s a good thing (the decks
that abuse Items are often speed decks), but at least it brings more
versatility to the deck building. Overall, I think that no one will miss
Gothitelle, because it's almost unfairly good at the moment and very very boring to play against.
Eelektrik (Noble Victories)

Eelektrik decks have wandered between tier1 and tier2
as long as they have existed. It’s finally time for them to be rotated out. I’m sure that other energy accelerators will be
released in the future and that a substitute for Eelektrik will be quickly
found. It may not be a Lighting type energy accelerator, but nevertheless
energy acceleration Abilites will never leave the game completely. At the
moment, Eelektrik is overpowered by Accelgor/Gothitelle, so it’s a shame that
they will be rotated out at the same time, but oh well… I was never an
Eelektrik fan!
Energy Switch

Energy Switch is a nice tech card in many decks, but
there is one deck that will suffer the most from the rotation of Energy Switch - Darkrai EX variants. After the rotation of Energy Switch they must
completely rely on Dark Patch and Scramble Switch. Is that enough? I doubt it.
The format won’t be any slower next season and since Darkrai EX will lose an
important piece of its speed, it may very well end up being a tier2 deck.
However, even without Energy Switch, Darkrai EX is still tier2 deck at worst.
It has great HP, great attack and superb synergy with Sableye, so don’t go
selling your Darkrai EXs just yet. It may very well surprise us in the next
format. In the end, I believe Energy Switch will be reprinted soon, so I wouldn’t
worry about losing Energy Switch that much for the time being.
Crushing Hammer

As I won Nationals with Hammertime and got to top8 of Worlds with Energy Removal 2, I have always had
a soft spot for Crushing Hammer in my heart. I think it’s sad to lose one
crucial part of Hammerspam, but to be honest I also believe that they will
reprint Crushing Hammer (with the same or different name) in the very close in
the future. It’s good to remember that before Crushing Hammer was released, its
name was Energy Removal 2 and it has been in our format almost 10-years almost
in a row. There are just some cards that Pokémon doesn’t want to get rid of for
good and I believe Crushing Hammer is one of them as it’s crucial part of all
the disruption decks that have ever existed.
Energy Retrieval

Most cards that have been rotated out have the same
thing in common – they are usually viable in only one certain deck. As for
Energy Retrieval, it was the most popular in Blastoise variants. However,
thanks to Superior Energy Retrieval, Blastoise doesn’t really miss Energy
Retrieval anymore. Sure, one Energy Retrieval would be a nice tech in Blastoise
variants, but it’s nothing that would make Blastoise that much better that it's irreplaceable. Energy Retrieval is one of those cards that
will be silently rotated out while most people don’t even realize that it is
rotated out!
Super Scoop Up

Is this card really even played anymore? Max Potion
does the job of Super Scoop Up in almost every deck – except Max Potion does it
even better. Super Scoop Up is a card that we would seldom see in Blastoise
variants, but thanks to Gothitelle, it is just one dead card more in Blastoise
nowadays. I’m sure that if they don’t reprint Super Scoop Up, people will soon
start to miss it, if coming-into-play Abilities (which are good for the
skill-level of the game by the way) will increase. However, at the moment,
Super Scoop Up isn’t really a card that makes any difference in the current
metagame.
Pokémon Communication

Most decks in the current format run 12-15 Pokémon. This way, it really isn’t
prudent to play Pokémon Communication in the metagame decks. Pokémon
Communication is the best in Acclegor/Gothitelle, because it often runs the
biggest amount of Pokémon from the current metagame’s decks and as you know
Gothitelle will be rotated out. So, where does it leave Pokémon Communication?
It leaves Pokémon Communication into a situation, where no one really misses
it. I also believe that they won’t reprint Pokémon Communication as long as
they like to keep the game Basic EX-based as Basic EX decks don’t really need It
due to their low Pokémon counts. Pokémon Communication has been in our format
for a long time and it has been one of the best cards in the metagame for a
long time, but now it’s just ancient history.

What can we expect the tier
1 to look like in the Battle Roads?

I don’t usually do things like this, but now I feel
like predicting the metagame tiers for Battle Roads. Last year the results of western
Battle Roads were very similar to Japanese tournaments results (excluding
Garchomp/Altaria's failure) and I believe it’s good to look for advice from Japan once
again. Anyways, here is what I believe the tiers of Autumn Battle Roads and
Regionals will look like.

Tier1
1. Genesect EX/Virizion EX variants
I believe Genesect EX will be the BDIF in the upcoming format just like
Hydreigon/Darkrai EX was arguably the brief period last autumn. With the help
of G-Booster, Genesect EX is the perfect attacker. It OHKOS anything and
everything. No questions asked. Never has such a card existed in this game and
it’s only natural that it’s the BDIF thanks to solid energy acceleration help
from Virizion EX. Virizion Ex's Ability also plays a huge role in making the deck the probable BDIF. The lack of Energy Switch is the only thing that can keep
this deck from being the undisputed BDIF, because even though the deck can energy accelerate, the lack of Energy Switch causes a bit of immobility for the deck, which is a big weakness.

2. Team Plasma variants

More and more Plasma counter cards will be released in the upcoming sets and
that is the biggest reason why I think Genesect variants will do better than
the current Plasma variants. However, these normal Plasma variants aren’t going
anywhere. They still hit hard, fast and are super consistent. Not to mention
that they will probably be the most popular deck to play in the Battle Roads
due to the accessibility of the cards in the deck thanks to cheap Deoxys and
Thundurus EXs, which will be released as Promos in early autumn. Plasma variants will probably win more Battle Roads than Genesect EX variants, just because the standard Plasma is now much cheaper.

3. Blastoise variants

The only expensive card in Blastoise variants is Tropical Beach and that’s the
only thing that keeps Blastoise from conquering the whole metagame. Ok, of
course Genesect EX and Virizion EX can easily keep up with Blastoise now as
well due to their natural type advantage, but most other decks just lose when Blastoise gets a good set-up. Blastoise
is the most autopilot deck in the upcoming format and I don’t think it will do
great in Masters, but in Juniors it will probably wreak havoc in the autumn
tournaments. Also, if Tropical Beach will be released as the Worlds Promo once again, it makes Blastoise a bit more playable again since Tropical Beach is more and more common. Tier2Trubbish/Garbodor variants
Klinklang variants
Hydreigon variants
Darkrai EX/Absol
Quad Snorlax

All these tier2 decks have something in common – they have bad match-up against
Genesect EX/Virizion EX. Trubbishes damage output isn’t enough against
Genesect. Klinklang’s Ability won’t have any effect against G-Booster.
Hydreigon variants will lose, because their attackers will be OHKOed, the same
goes with Darkrai EX/Absol and Quad Snorlax can’t do anything, because Virizion
EX negates all the special conditions!

I often say that even though I don’t want to pour fuel to the hype flames, it’s
still good to wake up to the realities of the next season. Virizion EX gives
already good Genesect EX energy acceleration and a counter against Hypnotoxic
Laser. You have to somehow find a way to stop a Pokémon that hits 200 through
everything and can’t be disrupted by Special Conditions. There is one thing I
can tell you – that won’t be too easy. If you won’t be playing in the Worlds, I
suggest you start testing with Genesect EX right now and see how powerful it is
(or is it that powerful at all?).

ConclusionThe current time of the season is difficult for a blogger
like me, because I haven’t been testing the new format much and can’t really
show you any decklists. At the same time, there is no point of doing articles
from the current format’s decks, because only a handful of players will go to
Worlds and I am sure that they can do their own testing, and don’t need my
help. After all they have qualified for Worlds Championships!

Anyways, whether you are going to Worlds or are already testing for the current
format, I hope you enjoyed the article today and found it useful. As always,
feel free to comment on anything, I’m more than glad to discuss anything and it
may very well be that I missed some crucial card that will be rotated out.

43 comments:

Could you do a deck analysis for Genesect/Virizion Ex? I know you posted the battle carnival list, but things might have changed a bit since then. Also, I think you forgot to mention that we lose the NVI Cobalion. Nice article as usual though. :)

This... because it certainly didn't have much of an impact on the format did it. Its not as if last season's US National Championship deck was built around it, and its also not as if it is a crucial part of the Plasma Klinklang deck which has won a large percentage of Cities and Regionals this season etc.

How Plasma Klinklang is expected to remain "Tier 2" I don't know considering the deck ceases to work at all without Shift Gear Klinklang unless the opponent runs a complete 0 non-EX attackers. Not to mention the fact that the deck loses Cobalion NVI. But then again if Snorlax is "Tier 2" despite Recycle a card which the deck relied upon heavily being rotated I guess anything can be tier 2.

Also Genesect EX isn't the first card in the format to be able to hit thing in one hit at all, take Black Kyurem EX PLS which can do the same with consistent acceleration AND not need an Ace Spec in order to do so, and the deck isn't even the BDIF now.

Apologies if this sounded too harsh, but this article really needed some more thinking about and testing before it was released.

"Genesect EX is the perfect attacker. It OHKOS anything and everything. No questions asked. Never has such a card existed in this game and it’s only natural that it’s the BDIF thanks to solid energy acceleration help from Virizion EX."

Are you quite sure about this? Virizion is not plasma so you have to spend to turns powering it up, then be discarding two energy per turn with no easy way to get 2 energy back on the Genesect and you claim it to be so grand? Surely not.

I think everyone knows why I didn't mention Klinkalng and Cobalion in the article,lol ;). I just have never fully understood how Klinklang was supposed to be competitive all this time even though I Know it was! However, yes it will get even worse now, but thankfully new Metal Pokémon will be released as well, so Klinklang will stay in tier2.

Matthew King: Probably I should have just explained the OHKO part more deeply, so it would have been more clear. There is one HUGE difference between Genesect EX and Black Kyurem EX, Genesect EX OHKOs EVERYTHING. Just like I said. I thought it was self-explanatory since Black Kyurem EX can't damage Klinklang variants or Sigilyph, but I guess not. The reason why Genesect EX is so good is that it can't be countered with Silver Mirror or anti-EX Pokémon. And never has a Pokémon existed in this game that can OHKO anything and everything, just like I said.

And, yeah the difference between tier2 and tier3 is pretty rough. Tier3 just sounds so... bad! SO I put everything into tier2.

Anonymous1: As I said, I haven't tested it, but it dominated the Japanese tournaments, so I think it's a pretty good indicator. Not a fact of course like I said in the article. I just think that they will be very good and people should really start playtesting them right away to see if they are as good as the Japanese tournaments indicated.

Bauke: The people going to Worlds include Grinders, naturally! Emboar will be interesting, but I think that Blastoise is still better since Emboar can't ohko Genesect EX.

Tool Scrapper is a theorymon card that I believe will never be VERY BIG. Not even in the Worlds this year. That said, the new Spiritomb that will be released in the EX Battle Boost will be played and takes care of the G-Booster, but that won't probably be available in the autumn Battle Roads.

G-Booster is a team plasma card ,it can be retrieved with Shadow Triad so it can be replayed in case you get tool scrapped. And as far as I know this kind of deck runs at least 3 copies of shadow triad. I think THAT is what makes it almost invincible . Nantuko :)

You realize that Genesect can get a turn 2 G Booster without Virizion's attack, right? Attach turn one + Colress Machine + attach turn two. Simple as that. And since G Booster can be gotten back from the discard with Shadow Triad, it's going to be really tough to beat, not to mention none of the Pokemon in that deck can be affected by special conditions.

Victini will see a decent amount of play IMO, mostly because you can actually donk a virizion and genesect if you didn't prize victory piece, you would need victini ex and skyla( or victory peice in hand)

I don't like Virizion/Genesect all that much - and I think the rotation of Energy Switch severely hurts it. 200 damage is all fine and dandy but it's nearly impossible to keep the string going, especially with the sheer amount of other attackers that can OHKO it in the current format (Kyurem and Black Kyurem EX being the main two) and just wipe all the energy off the field.

On the topic of Klinklang, as someone who's been a giant fan of it since it came out (heck, I managed to top 2 Regionals with it), I think it's time to say goodbye (not even Tier 2 status). The loss of BW Klinklang is a massive hit to a deck that is already faltering in the current format.

I also want to give Trubbish a little credit - it's matchup vs Virizion/Genesect has been quite good in the testing I've done. V/G tends to have sluggish starts and Trubbish can pray on that by getting all the tools it needs early and just burning through them. Trubbish has a variety of other issues due to it having very frail attackers and being somewhat inconsistent, but I don't think Virizion/Genesect is what is keeping it out of the top.

Now, I don't claim to be an expert on these things, but why does Genesect need to G-Booster every single turn again? Yes, you have a 200 damage attack, but if the discard is going to be too costly...you can still opt out of it. If you can't find a way to keep a chain of G-Boosters...don't use them every turn. A 100+20 damage Megalo Cannon is certainly not OMGBDIF material, but it isn't bad...and between Red Signal and Catcher, you can target down whatever you want to.

Genesect/Virizion isn't Blastoise - You don't have unlimited resources(for all practical purposes anyway), so stop trashing them every turn. Megalo Cannon is a 2HKO on everything p.much(and OHKOes some important cards as well such as Keldeo EX and Blastoise), so save G-Booster for big turns.

That's just my opinion - feel free to disagree. I am not too knowledgeable about the PLB metagame, so I might have missed something major.

Maybe the new Haxorus might be a viable centerpiece for a deck as well? Since 2/3 Tier One decks you listed are Plasma variants (TDK being all plasma basics) and Haxorus can insta-kill them for 2 energy.